Kachin/Naga Dao

[scratch]

Hello Bill
I enjoyed your Kachin dao post very much.
The dao with ivory buttplate with lovely design is a beauty as is the other.Thank you for sharing.
How many types of these daos are there?, These are not the topend variety. Would the handles be bamboo root?

Cheers

[Flavio]

Hi scratch, I think you have to clean and than etch the blades. You will find some nice laminations.

Regards
Flavio

[Mark]

Originally Posted by Flavio

Hi scratch, I think you have to clean and than etch the blades. You will find some nice laminations.

Regards
Flavio

I agree. You will be pleasantly surprised. A double-hairpin is characteristic of the highest quality Kachin dao (they would call it a "nhtu," by the way). Writing of the dao made by the Hkahkus, Hanson states:

"There are at least four varieties, of which one with clear, wavy streaks of steel running down the blade, is the most valuable and appreciated." Hanson, O., "The Kachin, Their Customs & Traditions," (1913), p. 76.

Yours might look something like this:

[paolo]

Or like my one
Paolo

[Bill M]

Since this is turning into the Kachin Dao thread, I'll dig up a few of mine

Actually I am glad that I did. These are really neat sword types they all speak to me. Fun to swing around.

Like Scratch said in the original post.

Originally Posted by scratch

G'day
I think these are Very

[paolo]

Very nice.
Paolo

[Mark]

Does anyone else have a jawbone on their scabbard? The one I posted above has half of a small jawbone of what I think is a small cat tied to the shoulder loop, and I see that one of Bill's does, too. I came across this description of a similar feature:

"A dha in its half-scabbard, fastened to a bamboo hoop, decorated with charms, such as the canine or molar of a leopard or tiger, and suspended to a red cloth band ornamented with cowries, is also slung over the right shoulder." Anderson, "A Report of the Expedition to Western Yunnan" (1871), p. 121.